The adventures of Judith grimes : Cupid Judith
by DR. Elsac2
Summary: After receiving her present from Santa, Judith has to start to play cupid because Rick and Michonne's schedules prevent their second date to happen. Judith wears her wings and grabs her bow to save the day. follow up to hear me out Santa. richonne oneshot


**So everyone asked for a follow up to hear me out Santa. I wanted to post in valentine day, but I had an hectic week and couldn't finish to write it . so I'm still going to post it because Monday it's my birthday and I'm happy. **

** i don't own the walking dead**

**please review**

* * *

**Cupid Judith**

* * *

"I miss Michonne," Judith sighs between sips of tea, and she glances at her father with great expectation.

Surrounded by her inanimate friends, she besieges Rick's office at home. Since the debacle with Jessie, Rick has forgone the idea of having a full-time babysitter. Carl has returned to school, and Rick has decided to handle half of his work from home.

Rick barely blinks, and he moves the frame of his glasses on his nose. He continues to go through clients' files, and he partly gives his focus to his daughter.

"Daddy." She whines when Rick doesn't answer her with his own confession of missing Michonne.

"Yes, sweetheart," Rick replies, and he raises his eyes to look at his daughter, "Is it my turn to pour the tea?" He absentmindedly pursues.

Judith dramatically laments, and she waits for Rick's concern. Rick cocks an eyebrow, and he wonders what it is going on with Judith. He looks at his daughter, and he patiently waits for Judith to express herself. Judith sighs again, and she watches her father.

How can Rick be so calm and collected when he also misses Michonne? Judith can't fathom the responses. Her dad is so strange, and he should be like all the men in those movies, which Sasha likes to watch, hopelessly in love and breathing only for their lovers. Yes, Sasha has an addiction to lifetime's movies.

With Valentine day approaching, Sasha's obsession with those rom-coms has worsened. Recently, Sasha babysat Judith when Rick had an emergency, and they spent those nights watching movies with blatant exaggeration of romance. Therefore, Judith has formed a solid belief of how a man in love should behave when apart from his beloved girlfriend. Rick is not behaving, as he should.

Judith stares at her father, and he doesn't look like he is particularly in pain. He has not lost weight, and he doesn't look particularly sad. Judith doesn't want to come to that awful conclusion, but the signs are clear. Judith glares at her dad, and the tears pool in her eyes. She puts down her cup of tea, and she indignantly rises from her little chair. She marches toward Rick, and Judith is ready for a confrontation.

"It's all your fault," Judith tells Rick has the tears fall from her eyes, and she runs out of Rick's office.

For a few seconds, Judith's emotional outburst astonishes Rick. He looks around him, and he is working to process what he did wrong. He looks at the tea service left behind, and Rick sighs.

"What did I do?" Rick asks Blue bear, and the teddy bear can't offer much of an answer. "Judith?" He rises from his chair, and he picks up Blue bear.

...

...

…

…

Rick follows Judith, and he cautiously opens her room's door. He stands out, he pushes Blue bear inside first, and he pocks his head into the room. Rick peruses the place until his eyes land on Judith, who lays in the middle of the bed in the fetal position. Her sobs fill the quiet room, and Rick wonders what brought this reaction.

"Judith, sweetheart." Rick softly whispers, and Judith rises her knees higher to hide her face, "sweetheart, what's wrong?" He walks into the room and takes a spot at the edge of Judith's bed.

"Go away." Judith cries, and she leans closer to Rick.

Rick stares at his daughter, and he wonders if it is an early case of adolescence crisis. Rick strokes Judith's hair, and he rubs her back to soothe her pain. He lifts Judith from the bed and sits her on his lap.

Judith hides her head in Rick's chest, and she hugs his waist. Rick looks down at the crown of her head, and small tremors shake her body. The tears are torrential, and he lightly taps on her back until the sob becomes quiet.

"Do you want to tell daddy what I did?" Rick encourages Judith to speak.

She doesn't move her head away from the hollow of Rick's chest, and Judith shakes her head as a negative answer. Rick wipes a few tears from Judith's crimson cheeks.

"Okay..." Rick sighs, and he silently consoles Judith.

The silence starts to weight on Judith, and her tears have dried. She moves her head away from her father's chest, and she scrutinises Rick through teary eyes.

"It's all your fault." Judith reiterates with frustration and disappointment.

Rick remains lost, and he attempts to go through what he could have done that would warrant this visceral reaction. Rick's mind comes blank, and he scratches his head. He patiently waits for Judith to elaborate, but she again hides her face in his chest.

"Sweetheart, I don't want to sound inconsiderate, but what is my fault." Rick questions.

Judith stops for a second, and she focuses on the word, which she doesn't understand. She glances at Rick in a way that he knows very well. Through her turmoil, she remains a curious child.

"Inconsiderate means that I don't care about how you feel and your pain," Rick feeds Judith's curiosity.

"Michonne left because of you." She answers with a voice filled with accusation and disappointment.

Judith's answer surprises her father, and Rick blinks a couple of times. Now, he understands her anger and tears. Rick doesn't know how Judith came to this conclusion two months after Michonne's departure.

"What?" Rick says for lack of better words to express his surprise with his daughter's accusation.

"You broke her heart, and you were in...con...si...de...ra...te," Judith says with seriousness although her difficulty to pronounce the word inconsiderate almost ruins it.

Rick looks at his daughter, and he has long ago ceased to question Judith's brilliance. Although, her accusations don't have legs to stand on, and Michonne is away because she is working on a new movie. As far as Rick knows, she is not heartbroken. She is tired, and she told him that she felt homesick. However, heartbroken, she wasn't.

"I broke Michonne's heart, Wow." He repeats Judith's statement, and Rick attempts to confirm that he heard Judith right, "I broke Michonne's heart."

"Yes, because you don't love her," Judith continues, and she looks at Rick with a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

Rick doesn't need this amount of pressure in a burgeoning relationship, but it is safe to say that he doesn't have the luxury to break Michonne's heart. He takes a deep breath, and he kisses the crown of Judith's head.

"I don't know how you came to that conclusion, but Michonne is not heartbroken. I..." Rick doesn't know how to discuss the depth of his feelings for his almost-girlfriend with his six years old daughter.

First, his relationship with Michonne is a work in progress, and they have to develop it through the complication of busy schedules. They had a date, and the next week, she was on a plane for Los Angeles. Rick scratches his head, and he sighs. Why didn't Judith have her tantrum when she was on FaceTime call with Michonne? Why does he automatically have to be the bad guy?

"You don't love her, and she is heartbroken," Judith argues with confidence, and she has the proof of what she claims.

Rick shakes his head, and he is unable to believe that he is going to entertain his meddlesome child. He hasn't had the conversation on their status with Michonne, and he didn't intend to have it until their second date. The second date should happen when they are in the same room. However, Judith has a mind of her own, and Rick will have that conversation with his daughter.

"Why do you believe that I don't love Michonne, sweetheart?" Rick reluctantly asks, and he dreads the answer.

"You don't miss her, and you're not sad like in the love movies. You're not sick. In love movies, they are sick." Judith adds the last sentence with a disappointed glare, and she shakes her head.

If Rick is not in love with Michonne, something is profoundly wrong with her father. For Judith, Michonne is perfection. How can her dad refuse a present from Santa?

"A movie... A movie... Judith, you can't decide that I don't miss Michonne because I'm not acting like an agonizing lover." Rick says, and he fights not to laugh at his daughter's ludicrous reasoning.

Judith stares at her father unfazed by his statement, and she didn't understand a word. If she weren't so frustrated with him, she would ask for the meaning of that word. Therefore, she simply stares at Rick with judgement in her eyes. Rick keeps his laugh at bay. He never thought that he would have a six-year-old judge him for his so-called actions.

"Agonizing means dying in pain." Rick explains when he senses the reason behind his daughter's silence, and Judith's expression changes to concern, "Not literally, I'm not dying, sweetheart." He clarifies to reassure her, and Judith's judgmental frown returns.

Rick sighs, and he admits that he won't escape this conversation. He kisses Judith's cheek, and he ruffles her hair.

"Are you sick?" He asks his daughter.

"No." She replies without a second thought.

"Does that mean that you don't miss Michonne? Does it mean that you don't love her?" Rick attempts to prove to Judith the flaws in her logic.

"But I'm not Michonne's boyfriend. I'm her friend," Judith counters with unwavering logic.

"I'm not her boyfriend too, and I'm her friend too." Rick points out to his daughter.

Although, his dynamic with Michonne is complex. Their relationship is beyond friendship, and there is a tacit agreement of exclusivity. However, there are many miles between them.

"Does Michonne know that you're not her boyfriend? Does Michonne know that you're her friend?" Judith's questions silence Rick for a few seconds.

Sometimes, he wonders where her wit comes from, and he considers his parental methods. How can she be a six-year-old with infallible logic?

"I think that she knows." Rick offers an answer to appease Judith.

However, he immediately regrets it. She crosses her arms, and her indignation resurfaces. Judith sighs, and she shakes her head. Rick recognizes Michonne's mannerisms in that little reaction.

"You didn't tell her that you weren't her boyfriend." Judith says with a small cry of horror, "You didn't tell me that you weren't her boyfriend." She adds with indignation oozing from every word.

"Judith?" Rick cocks his eyebrow, and he wants this strange conversation to end, "If I tell Michonne that I'm not her boyfriend, will you feel better?" He attempts to conclude the exchange with a compromise.

"No, you will break her heart." Judith throws her hands in the air after a deep gasp of horror, "She will never come back. It is all your fault. Why are you not her boyfriend? Why? Why?" She dramatically asks, "Daddy, why?" She asks again unable to understand her father, "She is pretty. Michonne is perfect. Why?" She insists with a determination to receive an answer.

"Calm down, sweetheart." Rick softly says, and he miraculously doesn't laugh at Judith's antics.

"Why don't you want to be Michonne boyfriend?" Judith asks again unable to fathom the reason why her father is not Michonne's boyfriend, and she saw them kissing on the rooftop.

"I didn't say that I didn't want to be Michonne's boyfriend." Rick corrects Judith.

He doesn't want Judith to run to Michonne, and she will start to spread misinformation. Rick wants to be Michonne's boyfriend, and he has every intention to take it there when she returns from LA.

"So why?" Judith asks again, and she looks at her father with concern.

"I haven't asked her to be her boyfriend yet." Rick gives into her pressure, and he explains himself to a six-year-old.

"Why? Are you scared?" Judith softly asks, and Rick must have misheard pity in his daughter's voice.

He will never fall lower in his life than this point where his daughter believes that he is a coward. Rick wouldn't lie, and truly, Michonne is majestic. However, cowardice is not the reason why he hasn't ask her officially to be his girlfriend. They are in a long distance relationship.

"What?" Rick asks Judith unable to process her words.

"In the movie..." Judith starts to offer an explanation, and Rick gently interrupts her.

"Who has let you watch all these love movies?" The impacts of those movies on his daughter slightly consternate Rick.

"Sasha." Judith answers, and she continues to speak unfazed by her father's expression of shock, "Are you scared?"

"No, I'm not scared. I haven't had the opportunity to ask her out the way that she deserves. I want to do it when the time is perfect and not over the phone." Rick sighs, and he quietly wishes for the end of this conversation.

"You should tell her that you want to be her boyfriend. It will glue her heart, and she will come back." Judith ignores every claim that Michonne isn't heartbroken, and she encouragingly taps her father's shoulder.

"Michonne will be back in two weeks, and she told you that, three hours ago during your call. She is working on a new movie. You just have to be patient." Rick attempts to reason with a six-year-old, who has decided that she is right.

A normal day in the Grimes' household.

"I miss her, daddy." Judith sincerely says, and she tightens her hug around Rick.

In a short time, her attachment to Michonne has grown. Their bond is beautiful and pure.

"I miss her too, but she will be back before you notice," Rick reassures Judith.

"We should bring her back." Judith excitedly says.

"She will be back in two weeks until then you can continue to talk to her every day as you already do." Rick responds, and he knows how Judith becomes if she wants something, "Are you okay now?" He inquires, and the lack of tears is a good sign.

Judith nods, and Rick kisses her forehead. He puts Judith's back in her bed, and he rises to return to his office.

"Good, I love you," Rick tells Judith

"I love you, daddy." She responds, and she hugs him.

* * *

Judith watches Sasha from the corner of her eyes, and she nibbles on her cookie. She moves her feet back and forth, and she listens to Sasha and Michonne's conversation.

"I don't understand what he wants, and I made it so clear." Michonne laments, and her voice fills the room as Sasha puts the call on speaker.

Sasha sits by Judith on the couch, and she starts to scan the Netflix selection of Rom-coms. She places a bowl of popcorn between Judith and her. Sasha focuses on choosing the movie, and Judith focuses on the popcorn.

"Sasha?" Michonne says with a hint of exasperation, "Are you listening to me?" She asks after a long silence of her sister.

"No, I'm trying to pick a movie." Sasha replies, and she hesitates between two movies, "A walk in the clouds or two weeks notice."

"Sasha?" Michonne asks with a hint of frustration for her sister's divided attention, "I'm trying to have a conversation with you. Anyways, one has Keanu Reeves, which makes it the obvious choice." Michonne still replies to Sasha.

"But there is Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock in the other movie." Sasha counters Michonne, and her dilemma is not as easy as Michonne thinks.

"No offence to Hugh Grant and all my love to Sandra Bullock queen of Rom com, but Keanu Reeves is always the first choice," Michonne argues in favour of her initial choice.

"You're wise, baby sister." Sasha agrees, and she puts on a walk in the clouds. "Now, that is done. I'm all yours, Mimi. You have to start from the beginning because I wasn't listening." Sasha confesses, and Michonne sighs.

"So, I told you how the lead actor in my movie had to back out, and they replaced him," Michonne stops to see if Sasha is following, and she continues when Sasha agrees, "Then I told you that Mike was the replacement."

"The bastard..." Sasha interrupts her younger sister to express her hatred for the man.

"What is a bastard?" Judith asks, and she shows that she hasn't missed a second of the conversation.

"Judith?" Michonne asks a bit shocked because Sasha didn't tell her that she was watching Judith.

"Michonne." Judith shouts with excitement, "What is a bastard?" She refocuses the conversation on what matters.

"Something that Sasha shouldn't say around you, sweetheart. It is a bad word." Michonne answers, and she glares at her phone as she would have glared at Sasha. "Why aren't you home? When I spoke to you, you were getting ready for bed." She finishes with a question.

Three hours ago, which was 9 pm; Michonne was speaking with Judith on the phone as she did every night. They had their little routine. Michonne would talk a good hour with Judith at night, and she would have hours-long conversations with Rick after. She was becoming accustomed to Rick's voice putting her to sleep.

"Rick had a work emergency. Something about a cybersecurity breach and he asked me to watch Judith." Sasha replies, and she refills Judith's glass of milk.

"And you thought watching a movie with her would be a good idea," Michonne says with consternation, "Judith needs to be in bed the latest by 10 pm, and she gets extra grumpy if she doesn't get enough hours of sleep." She continues to chastise Sasha.

"Slowdown mama, how am I supposed to know that I'm the cool aunt? That is your child, and she is fine with watching a movie." Sasha disregards her sister rants.

"You are making her watch Rom-coms," Michonne answers with a heavy coat of incredulity on her words.

"She loves them," Sasha casually answers, "Tell her you like Rom-coms, Judith"

"I like Rom-coms." Judith dutiful answers.

"See, you heard it from her mouth." Sasha gloats, "and now what were we talking about?" She redirects the conversation back to their main topic.

"Take me off speaker first," Michonne knowingly request, and she doesn't want Judith to hear more of the adult conversation.

"It's that serious," Sasha says, and she does what her sister asks, "your baby's ears are safe. Now, tell me."

"So as I was saying, I had to work with Mike, and it is getting weird." Michonne beats around the bush, and Sasha easily notices the omission of information.

"That is a married man," Sasha already replies with frustration, and she has her suspicions.

"Well, someone needs to tell him, and you know I would never. I know that she didn't care when I was seeing him, but I wouldn't do that to a pregnant woman. I have more to lose than my time." Michonne corrects her sister's assumptions.

"I was just making sure you kept that in mind. We all know how it ended the first time, and he is only trying to ruin your life. You know how men can sense when you have moved on, and you have a better man. Don't let him get into your head, and you have a new boyfriend…" Sasha has to stop because Michonne wants to correct her relationship status.

"I don't have a boyfriend, but that is beyond the point," Michonne says

"So who is Rick, the man who you have phone sex with for fun. I didn't know you could do a casual relationship. You just happen to be in love with him, and he is not your boyfriend," Sasha challenges Michonne's answer.

"He didn't ask to make it official, and we only had phone sex once or twice, well three time if you count… anyway, we don't have any sort of label." She explains, and Sasha snorts

"Rick didn't ask you to be his girlfriend." She repeats for confirmation

"Daddy said that he will ask when he sees her, but he is scared. Daddy loves Michonne like in the movies," Judith adds her two cents to the conversation

"Did you hear the truth where it is supposed to come from, the mouth of a child? Now, let your dusty ex know that you have a new man, who has enough money to make him disappear from the face of the earth, and he should leave you alone." Sasha finishes her statement with no space for argument.

"There is no need, and I'm staying away from him. I don't want to misunderstand what Rick and I have. I might be the only one very into him, and I don't want history to repeat itself. I will handle Mike, and I needed to vent about it. Just last night, he tried again to seduce me. This is my work environment, and it is frustrating me." Michonne exhaustively explains her approach to the issue.

Sasha doesn't miss the insecurities carried by her sister's words. Mike really left Michonne into a broken state, and she has learned to restrain her emotions. Rick needs to be assertive, or Michonne will never see his interest in her.

"You and your three-time sex phone partner need a conversation, and as for Mike, I will personally deal with him when I come to visit in two days," Sasha responds, and Michonne rolls her eyes.

"Just don't end up in jail a day before Valentine day." Michonne teases with a mocking laugh.

"What do you have another sexy call planned, and you don't want any disturbance?" Sasha teases back.

"Maybe," Michonne answers because she refuses to let Sasha have the last word.

"That's nasty." Sasha laughs.

"Now, put the phone back on speaker. I need to talk to Judith before I get accused of neglect." Michonne says with reason.

….

….

….

…..

Judith is a very demanding child, and Michonne doesn't mind. Judith returns every ounce of love given to her tenfold, and Michonne simply adores the little girl.

"Sweetheart?" Michonne calls for Judith, and Judith moves closer to the phone. "You shouldn't be awake so late." She softly says.

"I know," Judith answers, and she doesn't elaborate. "When are you coming back?" Judith pursues with the same question that she asks every day.

"Two weeks more and we can have a tea party," Michonne replies with genuine excitation.

"I miss you so much," Judith replies with a slightly teary voice, "Daddy is going to glue your heart back, and so you can come back. He promised." She continues to speak.

"What?" Michonne asks slightly confused by Judith's statement.

"Daddy needs to glue your heart back because he broke it. He didn't tell you that he wasn't your boyfriend, but you're his girlfriend. It isn't fair. It's all his fault that you left, and we're coming to bring you back." Judith continues, and she is indignant on Michonne's behalf. "Daddy is going to be your boyfriend, and you need to come back." She finishes.

Sasha can't help but laugh at the serious expression on Judith's face. Michonne continues to be amazed by Judith's logic.

"I'm not heartbroken, sweetheart. I'm not home because I have to work." Michonne reassures Judith.

"Sasha, see what your movies have done." Michonne laments while Sasha continues to laugh.

"I mean she has some points, and you would love if Rick could come to visit. You just don't dare to ask." Sasha points out. "Judith would solve that for you. She is basically your Cupid, and you didn't deny when she called you Rick's girlfriend." She challenges Michonne to argue with her on that point.

"He is as busy as I am. We couldn't even schedule a second date." Michonne can't challenge Sasha, and so she offers an excuse.

"You two are so infuriating. I have never seen people so accommodating of the other. You go with his flow and schedule, and he does the same for you. I'm sure that he wants to visit, but he doesn't want to disturb you while you're working. I love romance, but your brand of romance is exhausting and adorable." Sasha says.

"Judith, fix it for Michonne and get your dad to her." Sasha turns to Judith and ceremoniously says.

"Don't give her any ideas," Michonne chastises her sister, "sweetheart, don't listen to her." She wants to make sure that Judith doesn't do anything.

"Okay," Judith answers, but to whom she answers remains unclear.

* * *

Rick looks at his phone screen, and he wonders if Judith might be right. Michonne slightly intimidates him. She is beautiful, she is funny, and she is younger. As if it is not enough, he only needed a glance at her to fall for her.

After Lori's death, he didn't search for a new relationship. He wanted to focus on his children, and so he did. Now, Carl is in college, and Judith is the only one who needs his attention. He could easily start a new relationship. Michonne is perfect, and she fits in his world.

However, he doesn't want to invade her world. She is famous, and she might not be interested in more than casual. Rick comes with a child, and if he is fair, Michonne adores Judith. She already made space for Judith in her life. In two months, she has given Judith more time than she was required too.

"You look cute when you think hard. Do you want to share?" Michonne's voice draws him back to the conversation.

"I'm sorry," Rick apologizes for his moment of distraction although he was thinking of her.

Thinking of Michonne, Rick has done nothing else in two months. She lives in his mind, and he doesn't want to change that.

"That is okay, and I get to stare at you without being embarrassed," Michonne reassures him, and she smiles at Rick.

"I doubt that you like to see me working." He removes the corrective glasses from his nose, and he massages the bridge of his nose.

"I like looking at you with the glasses on, and that is sexy. I was reading my lines," she raises her script for him to see.

They have many of those FaceTime calls where they barely speak to each other while they go about their days. Rick has spent days watching Michonne rehearse her scene, and Michonne has spent many nights listening to Rick pass his business-related calls. Now, she knows more than she needs to know about the specific alarms, and she knows interesting details about Rick Grimes.

"Well, I will keep the glasses on then, but I will quit working because I want to give you all my attention." Rick puts back his glasses, and he focuses on the screen of his pad.

"Rick, don't do that." Michonne chastises Rick without conviction.

"Do what? Looking at you," Rick teases with a flirtatious smirk on his lips.

"You're so cocky, and you know what I mean." She replies, and she wishes that she could reach for him through the screen and kiss him.

She wants to do more with the way that he is looking at her, and Michonne sighs. She is deeper into their relationship that she wants to admit. She loves how she is so comfortable with him, and everything feels natural.

"I have solid reasons to remain cocky. First, you find it attractive, and I aim to please you in many ways." Rick answers, "Second, the other reasons don't matter. As I said, pleasing you is a powerful incentive." He adds.

" I miss you like really badly." The words escape the enclave of her mind before she can filter them, and Michonne instantaneously regrets saying them," and I wasn't supposed to say that because you want to keep it casual." She scolds herself, and she doesn't give Rick a chance to speak "We didn't even have our second date. I'm sorry…" She disappears from Rick's screen.

She goes to open the door of her trailer, and she shakes her head at the overly embarrassing reaction that she had at her confession. It would register, as a little detail to Rick, but for Michonne is a display of vulnerability. After Mike and everything associated with him, vulnerability is not what Michonne wants to present. However, she can't help it. Rick simply knows how to draw it out of her.

"Michonne?" Rick calls when he recovers from her little rant, and he hopes that she didn't close herself to him.

What is about to admit makes him question his sanity, but he should take a page out of Judith's book. Surely, he is conveying the wrong message. Casual, what could have led her to believe that he wanted something casual?

"It is time for my next scene, and I will call back." Michonne reappears on screen, and Rick has no time to express what he feels.

* * *

Judith made her decision, and nothing could stop her. She grabs her beauty and the beast backpack, and she fills it with everything that she thinks might be of use to her. From her favourite pink pencil to her favourite yellow dress, she packs as many things as she can fit in her tiny backpack.

Judith grabs Blue bear, and she walks out of her room. She drags her humongous bear by the arm, and it is twice bigger than she is. Rick questioningly cocks an eyebrow when she enters his office. Judith drags the chair opposite to him, and she struggles to climb on the office chair. Rick watches his daughter, and he never knows what to expect of Judith. Judith pulls up Blue bear, and she places her teddy bear in the other empty seat

"What are you doing, sweetheart?" Rick reluctantly asks Judith.

"We're leaving," Judith tells her father with her head held high.

Rick blinks for a second, and he stares at Judith. She has her favourite backpack, and she has her favourite teddy bear. Rick sighs, and he questions his educational methods.

"You're leaving?" Rick repeats his daughter's statement for good measure.

He must have misheard her, but he doesn't dare to hope. Judith and her antics never cease to amaze Rick. He pinches his nose, and he takes a deep breath.

"Yes," Judith confidently answers.

"You're leaving to go where." He entertains her ludicrous beliefs, and he supposes that Judith will follow up with grand adieu.

"To go find Michonne." Judith straightens her posture, and she expects Rick to be against the idea.

She isn't supposed to go upstairs alone, and she can't go to the park alone. Therefore, Judith anticipated Rick's rebuttal, and she has a travelling companion.

"Do you know where Michonne is?" Rick's question is the last thing Judith expects to hear.

Her disorientation feels like a small victory to Rick. Judith is hard to silence, and she always has an answer ready. Judith frowns for a second, and she twists her tongue while she searches for an answer.

"No…" she dejectedly answers, and for a few seconds, she attempts to find a solution "Sasha knows, and she can tell me." She lights up when she finds an answer.

"And how are you going to go all the way to Los Angeles. " Rick once again shows the flaw into Judith planning.

"I can walk to there," Judith asks hopeful, but her father shakes his head.

So far, Judith thought she could walk to where Michonne was. She doesn't even know what Los Angeles is.

"Sweetheart, that is very far. You need a car, a train, or a plane," Rick explains to Judith, and her disappointment threatens to take over her determination to brink Michonne's back.

"I don't have a car," Judith sadly says, and Rick doesn't break her bubble by telling her that she doesn't know how to drive.

"That sound like a bit of a problem," Rick says with slight amusement.

"Let me think about it." She refuses to give up, "You have a car," Judith triumphantly says.

Rick has a plane too, but he doesn't have to encourage his daughter extravagant idea. He leans in his chair, and he watches Judith's twist in her chair due to anticipation.

"I should come with you?" Rick questions Judith, "Why do you want to go visit Michonne so much." He continues with his line of questioning.

"I miss her very much." She answers with so much sincerity and sadness that Rick reaches for her hand, "and I want to be romantic," Judith finishes answering.

"Romantic," Rick repeats, and he knows Judith allocates the wrong meaning to the word.

Judith nods, and the small-disappointed pout doesn't leave her mouth. She peers at Rick's with eyes filled with tears waiting to fall, and she walks up to Rick to sit on his lap.

"You miss Michonne too." She doesn't need an answer to what she knows to be a blatant truth.

"A lot more than I should." Rick agrees with Judith

"Then you need to be romantic, daddy," Judith seriously advises her father.

"Do you know what romantic means?" Rick asks for confirmation.

Even with her lack of understanding of the word, Judith is making sense. Her advice is not falling in the ear of a deaf. After his last conversation, Rick has the inclination to do a romantic gesture.

"I know …" Judith hesitantly replies, "I heard Sasha say it's for people you love." She finishes with a slight glance at Rick for confirmation.

"Daddy?" Judith looks at Rick with expectations that translate in her voice.

"Yes, Judith," Rick is slightly afraid.

When Judith's glistening orbs land on him, he is generally inclined to offer what she wants. Some other times, it means that he is about to hear the most ludicrous thing in the world.

"You can be romantic," Judith says with an encouraging tone, and she taps on Rick's shoulder.

"You have to be romantic, or Michonne will not be your girlfriend anymore." Judith looks in her father, and she speaks with uttermost seriousness.

"There are many boyfriends in my class with no girlfriend because they weren't nice. They didn't share their colour pencils, and that is not romantic." She adds as an example.

Rick doesn't understand how you can be a boyfriend without a girlfriend, but he doesn't want to spend the night explaining to Judith how a relationship works. However, she has grasped the most important thing, romanticism. Rick must admit that he hasn't made a lot of effort in that domain. With Michonne, everything is so organic that he puts little effort. He was screwing up without noticing.

"Michonne will not be your girlfriend. You will be sad, and she will be sad. I will be sad. If you're not romantic, you will make everyone sad," Judith all knowingly says.

She stares at Rick with concern, and Rick shakes his head. Why must his six years old daughter be so perspective? In five seconds, Judith solved his dilemma of two months.

"Thank you for the pressure, sweetheart." He teases with a smirk spreading his lips.

"You're welcome." She responds without humour.

There is quietness in the room for a few seconds while Rick attempts to decide what to do. Taking love advice from his child and getting the woman of his dream or let nature run its course with the risk of sending the wrong message. Casual, he has yet to get over Michonne's misunderstanding of his intentions.

Judith speaks to Rick, but his thoughts distract him. She grabs her father's face to shake him out of his thought grip, and she frames Rick's face with her small hand.

"Do you want to make Michonne sad?" She asks with knowledge of the answer.

Rick can't believe that Judith is borrowing a page from his parenting book. She really wants him to come to the right conclusion on his own.

"No." He humours Judith.

"Do you want to make me sad?" Judith continues, and this is how her father does it when she is being stubborn.

"Never, sweetheart." He kisses the palm of her hand to punctuate his statement.

"Do you want to be sad?" She follows with the next question.

"No." Rick holds a laugh because the entire thing has gone as he expected it to go.

"Then what do you have to do." She mimics his authoritative tone

"I need to be romantic," Rick, answers with a soft smile.

"We're leaving" He finishes before Judith can utter the next logical question.

"Yeah…" Judith leaps off Rick, and she grabs Blue bear, "we're going to see Michonne." She drags her bear out of Rick's office and she is out of the room before Rick can tell her that their departure is not imminent.

* * *

Michonne sits on the floor between Sasha's leg, and she rests her head on her sister's thigh while Sasha twists her locks. She sighs for the umpteenth time, and Sasha rolls her eyes. With a slight exasperation, she pulls harder on Michonne's head.

"What was that for," Michonne pulls her head away from Sasha's hand, and she starts to massage her scalp.

"Testing my theory," Sasha replies with a sweet smile, "and as I thought your head is dense." She continues.

"This is why I will rather have this conversation with Tyrese," Michonne laments, and Sasha pulls one of her locks again.

"Because he finds the sweetest way to call you a dumbass, it doesn't mean that he didn't call you one. I'm better for this love talk because I don't sugarcoat. Right now, I'm telling you to stop being a dumbass," Sasha continues to speak, and she remains unfazed by Michonne's previous statement.

"How am I a dumbass? In both cases, I reacted accordingly. I told him I wasn't interested and kept it moving. I told Mike to stop cornering me. He has a pregnant wife." Michonne explains herself, and Sasha stares at her with slight confusion.

"Sis, I wasn't talking about your dusty ex. You weren't sighing about musty Mike. That long yearning sigh and the ten others are in honour of our beloved neighbour. The man that you should call, Rick Grimes." Sasha redirects the topic.

"Oh, in that case, you're right that I am a dumbass." She agrees with Sasha, and that thought has consumed her the entire day, "I should have said anything, and I think he felt pressure," Michonne finishes and she adds another sigh.

"We both agree that you're a dumbass, but for different reasons. You told him you missed him, and it isn't that deep. I mean you could have told him that you want his babies that would have been rushing things." Sasha says while she looks at Michonne's knowingly.

"Oh thank God, I didn't make it worse," She feigns a small panic.

"Don't act smart. I know you, Mimi. You have spent two months speaking with Rick and you were already head over heels after your first date. How many children, your future family has." Sasha teases, and she knows how Michonne rushes into her relationship.

"Three, Carl, Judith, and a baby boy." She answers with a slight blush creeping on her cheek.

"You see this is rushing, but missing him and letting Rick know is natural. You're projecting your fears on him. He never told you that he wanted something casual, but you wanted something casual after musty Mike. You can't have it, and so you are trying to self-sabotage. This is why I think you're a dumbass," Sasha expertly analyzes the situation.

"Okay, you've got a point, but you were also the one who didn't want me to rush into anything with Mike. I didn't listen, and we know the end. Why would the outcome be different from Rick," Michonne questions and her fears pour out of her words?

"Because the only thing that Rick and Mike have in common is that women throw themselves at them. One is a refined wine in a warm bath, and the other is cheap booze in your parent basement." She points out.

"Well, there are still women in the equations. I can't deal with that type of betrayal again. It is not only the hurt ego, but it is the need to understand. What if those women who throw themselves at him finally get to him?" Michonne asks with the weight of the past on her shoulder, and she rises from the floor.

She picks a green clay mask from her skincare bag, and she raises it for Sasha to choose what she wants as a mask.

"Coconut, Sakura, and sea salt. The Japanese one." Sasha says after refusing the clay mask, and Michonne looks into her bag for what Sasha wants.

Sasha removes the hair band holding her hair, and she replaces Michonne on the floor. Michonne comes with the oil assortment for Sasha's hair after she finishes applying her mask.

"As I was saying, Rick is the polar opposite of Mike. We all knew Mike was a player, and Rick simply happens to be attractive. He doesn't actively go after every woman as Mike did," Sasha points out obvious truths.

"Judith had to intervene for your first date because she was tired of his celibate life. Does that scream player?" Sasha asks Michonne.

"He didn't have time for a relationship, and he hardly has time now," Michonne attempts to silence her hopeful heart.

"He is very much into you, and he certainly gives you all of his time that he doesn't give to his children and work. He didn't feel the need to be in a relationship until he met you." She corrects Michonne's statement.

"You spend hours having the most meaningless conversations. Yes, I heard you while Judith invited me for the tea parties, and I heard you last ninth," Sasha says with an ounce of shame for her curiosity and prying ears.

"It is disgustingly sweet how he is turning you into a mini security expert. It is even cuter that he knows that I love handmade hair products because of your conversations. The one, which he gave me as a thank you for babysitting Judith cost a fortune. Touch my hair, soft and moisturized," Sasha forgets what she intends to say to focus on how her hair feels.

"Mike could hardly remember details about you, and I doubt he remembered things that you told him about me or Tyrese." She eventually returns to the original topic.

"I think that I can safely tell you not to be overly cautious. Flow with the relationship, and let your heart riots for once. You don't have to take him to mama right away, but you can safely think about your son. You can also move from phone sex to actual sex," Sasha finishes with a giant grin.

"Sasha," Michonne swats her sister's arm, "aside from the last line, thank you."

"Now, you can go have your daily call, but wait for me to be asleep before you start telling him how wet you're," Sasha says between laughs.

"Fuck you," Michonne says without malice, and she rises to go get her phone.

"Incest won't quench your Rick Grimes' thirst," Sasha deadpans, and her laughs become louder.

"Sasha," Michonne shouts, and she throws a pillow at Sasha.

"Stating facts," Sasha deadpans.

"He isn't picking up," Michonne says with slight frustration as Rick's phone endlessly rings.

"That is Rick Grimes for you. I never get him at the first call," Sasha says with a reassuring smile.

"He always picks at the first ring when I call," Michonne brushes off Sasha's excuse.

"Phone sex privilege while we remain peasants" Sasha dramatically speaks, and she stands from the floor "bust it down Thotiana…bust it down Thotiana." She starts to sing to annoy Michonne.

"You're so dumb for that one, and I'm going to kill you when …" Michonne doesn't finish her threat because Rick's laugh interrupts her

"Interesting way to start a conversation," He teases her, and Michonne's heart halts.

"Oh my god, I was talking to Sasha," Michonne corrects when she retrieves the use of her tongue, "Sasha is the dumb one, not you. I mean as if you're intelligent… You're…not dumb." She glares at Sasha, and she pursues, "I'm going to kill Sasha, not you …I swear I have no intention to kill you."

"That is a good thang, I will be safe, and then once you open the door of your hotel room and let me in," Rick says with a seductive nonchalance, and he softly knocks at Michonne's door.

"What?" Michonne asks with growing hope, and she is running toward the door of her hotel penthouse.

"What has gotten into you," Sasha asks after Michonne almost collides with her.

"Open the door, Michonne" Rick answers, "Hi," he calmly says with a cocky smirk when Michonne opens the door.

"Oh…You…" Michonne finds nothing intelligent to say, and she is panting after running so fast to the door.

After a long minute of silent looks, and Michonne keeping her hand to the side in an effort not to touch Rick to confirm that she isn't dreaming. She grabs the collar of his shirt, and she pulls him down until his nose grazes hers. After a quick glance into his mesmerizing eyes, Michonne closes the distance between their lips.

….

…

….

…..

The passion in their kiss enflames her blood. She presses her body to Rick's one, and his fragrance chases the air out of her lungs. Her arms circle his neck, and with his only free arm, Rick circles the Michonne's waist and draws her impossibly close. Michonne's body melts under Rick's touch.

His tongue teases and tastes her as if she is the sweetest fruit. His lips are demanding, but he maintains a lazy pace. She has the time to appreciate the subtle layer of his tongue's taste. From sweet to an underlying saltiness, she savours him. When his tongue twists and coerces her tongue into an inflamed Paso Doble, Michonne moans in Rick's mouth. Rick's hand slowly slides from her waist too small of her back as their kiss grows in intensity.

"Eww, you're sharing bacteria." Judith's voice reminds Rick and Michonne of their surroundings.

"Judith," Rick sighs but he is happy that she reminded them of her presence before the kiss took a turn for the explicit side.

"Bacteria bring diseases. Miss Maggie says it, don't share bacteria." She continues to chastise Rick, "Dad, don't give your bacteria to Michonne."

"Judith," Rick says with slight annoyance, and he gives to Michonne that look, which she has come to love and understand, help.

"Sweetheart?" Michonne calls for Judith, and Judith finally comes out of her spot behind Rick.

"Michonne," Judith squeals, and she runs into Michonne's arm. "What is this? You have dirt on your face." She pocks at the green clay mask on Michonne's face.

"That is a clay mask to make me beautiful, and no one is supposed to see me with it. Your dad, even less than any anyone else." Michonne says, and she lifts Judith up. "Sorry," Michonne wipes the clay on Rick's nose with her thumb.

"Can I have dirt on my face too so I can look pretty like you." Judith excitedly asks, and she starts to drag Michonne away from Rick.

"Give Michonne a minute, I need to talk to her," Rick asks Judith before he no longer has the opportunity to monopolize Michonne.

"You're going to ask her to be your girlfriend?" Judith innocently asks, and Rick can't help the mortified smile on his face.

"I guess, and take blue bear with you." He answers.

Judith grabs her teddy bear, and she drags it in the room.

"It's yes by the way." Michonne answers

"I know, but you will tell me that when I ask the question. " His cockiness resurfaces, and a smirk settles on his lips.

"This is for you, and I hope I remembered right because I think Wikipedia has it wrong," Rick says as he drags a humongous bouquet of saffron crocus from behind his back.

"Oh, they are gorgeous and my favourite flower. They will be my favourite even if you were wrong," Michonne jokes as she takes in the scent of her bouquets.

No one has ever offered her a bouquet of saffron because the pound alone is worth a fortune, and here she is holding the heaviest bouquet that she has ever received from anyone.

"Can I say yes now?" Michonne asks with a small smile.

"Why don't you hold on that yes until tomorrow night? I will pick you up for dinner."

"You want to spend Valentine day with me. "

"I had no idea that tomorrow is Valentine day. I want that second dinner, and I have been advised to be romantic or I will lose my girlfriend." Rick teases and he runs his knuckles along Michonne's neck.

"We don't want that," Michonne answers with a flirtatious tone.

Rick leans to claim her lips, and Michonne places her hand between them to stop him.

"With this mask, I can't move the needed muscles to kiss you right." She says with slight regrets, and Rick laughs.

"This will do just fine," Rick says as his lips graze her collarbone, and he kisses the curvature of her neck.

"There is your child in this room. Please think of the therapy bill," Sasha says to announce her presence.

"Hello, Sasha." Rick charmingly says as he drags his lips away from Michonne's neck.

"I'm going to kill you," Michonne mouths when she turns to face her sister.

"And go to jail before getting that mature D." Sasha mouths back.

"Before I forget. Judith has unilaterally decided to have a sleepover. Is that okay with you?" Rick asks when Michonne and Sasha's conversation ends.

"I even volunteer to watch her tomorrow," Sasha answers with a teasing smile on her lips, and Michonne glares at her sister.

"I will see you tomorrow," Rick says to Michonne, and he nods to Sasha.

Michonne's hands still cling at his arms, and she doesn't want to let him go. Her attachment to Rick may be greater than she wants it to be, but Rick has the ability to melt her iron defences.

"I will go get Judith so she can say bye, and give you five minutes for the adult things," Sasha says as she returns to the room.

…..

…..

…..

"Give me a minute." Michonne rushes to the bathroom to wipe her mask off in record time, and she returns into the living room to find Rick and Judith having their usual night routine.

"Storytime," Rick explains, and he looks through Judith's backpack to find the book.

"I know, and you stopped at page 10. When the wolf blows the house," Michonne replies to Rick.

Judith's story time coincide with the first hour of Rick and Michonne's FaceTime. Michonne is about to walk to the room when Judith calls her.

"You are going to miss the story, and dad will have to read it again tomorrow," Judith says and she taps the couch to indicate Michonne's spot.

With her statement, Michonne understands why even after the day when she calls late and misses the story, she is still able to follow the next day. She reaches for Judith, and she kisses the crown of her head. Any hope for a casual relationship disappears, and Michonne is not afraid.

Rick reads the story for Judith, and Michonne steals glances at him. She misses the end to the story, and it only Judith's excitement about the sleepover that draws her attention.

"Bye, daddy," Judith says as she is pushing Rick out of the penthouse.

"I will see you out, Rick," Michonne grabs Rick's hand, and she drags him out as fast as she can.

Rick has no time to react until they stand in front of the elevator. She steals heated glances at him, and her hand each to touch him. When they enter the elevator, they lean closer to each other. Their skin tingles at every accidental graze. Rick gives into the temptation before she does.

"By the way, I missed you too," Rick confesses, and his lips passionately claim hers.

The first seconds of the kiss leave Michonne breathless. It feels like every tongue stroke demands that she offers everything and let go of her fears. In Rick's arms, the thought of a beautiful future feels appropriate. She kisses him with a yearning for that future and a need to keep this moment frozen in time.

The elevator door opens, and the camera flashes light their skin. It is enough to break her bubble, and so she continues to kiss Rick with abandon.

"Michonne is that your new boyfriend." One of the paparazzi shouts and Michonne's answer is to deepen the kiss.

"Casual is not really my thing so you know," Rick whispers against her lips when he breaks their kiss.

Michonne answers with her gorgeous smile, and she can't follow him when he crosses the sea of camera and paparazzi.

* * *

When Michonne returns to the room, Sasha directs a saucy smile in her direction. Judith runs to her, and she holds her waist. Michonne smiles to the little girl, and she lifts her up. She carefully throws Judith on the bed, and Judith laughs until her lungs burn.

"So?" Sasha asks with a teasing smile as she throws herself on to the bed, "how good was it?" She wiggles her eyebrow.

"I was gone for twenty minutes. What do you think could happen?" Michonne asks with an amused tone.

"Enough to put that smile on your face," Sasha responds with eagerness for details, "and we both know what you had in mind when you saw him at that door… you wanted to ride his pony." She says with a grin on her lips.

"You have a pony," Judith squeals, and Michonne throws a pillow at her sister.

"No sweetheart." She softly answers Judith's question.

"See," Michonne glares at Sasha "there was no time to ride a pony today, but tomorrow if he keeps it up you can call me an equestrian." She winks at her sister, and Sasha laughs until her stomach hurt.

"Praise the Lord. She gets freaky." Sasha shouts after another laugh.

"Michonne, put dirt on my face too, please," Judith says after observing the adult and not understanding the joke.

"Come here, Princess Judith. We will give you spa's treatment." Michonne says and she takes a hair band.

"What do you want? A ponytail or a pigtail." Michonne asks as she pulls Judith's up.

"I want yours," Judith points at the loose bun on Michonne's head, and she always wants to mimic Michonne.

Michonne does her bun, and Sasha passes them bathrobes. They all wear it to Judith's delight. Michonne redoes her mask and risks to have wrinkles because Judith wants them to have the same thing. Sasha, Judith, and Michonne sit on the bed while Judith regaled them of their latest adventure.

"The tea parties were boring without you," Judith tells Michonne, and Sasha snorts.

"It is how you thank me, Judith." She teases with false indignation.

"You were okay, but you could be better," Judith tells Sasha with the uttermost seriousness, and she taps on Sasha's hand to console her.

"This child is ruthless," Sasha concludes, and she shakes her head.

"It is okay not to be the best at tea parties, and the movies were good. You can't always be good at everything," Judith attempts to console Sasha, and she regurgitates her teacher's statement.

"Oh my god, Judith I promises to do my best at the next tea party," Sasha solemnly says, and Judith smiles encouragingly.

Although, she doesn't look very hopeful. Michonne laughs and she drags Judith into a hug.

"I miss you, sweetheart." Michonne genuinely says.

"Good, next time don't leave. Daddy and I will be more romantic." Judith answers.

"Your daddy and you are the best, and I left because I had to work. You make me so happy, and I will never leave you if I could. I miss you too much when I leave," Michonne reassures Judith, and she covers her face with loud butterfly kiss until Judith laughs.

"I love you, Michonne," Judith says when she can breathe, and tears pool in Michonne's eye.

"I love you too, sweetheart," Michonne replies with her prettiest smile.

"I know…" in that second, Judith is as cocky as her father is.

* * *

Michonne comes out of the room singing, and nothing can quiet her excitement. The heated exchange that she had with Mike didn't faze her, and he has no right to ask her why her face is in every outlet kissing some rich white man to quote him.

She might have had the worse day on set, but her heart continued to speed with each passing second. Rick's voice almost made her heart stop during their last phone conversation. There is no need to deny the truth. Michonne stands at the edge, and she is ready to fall deep and hard for Rick Grimes. She already did fall deeply in love with his daughter.

"Red or black dress," Michonne raises her dress for the jury of experts to give their opinions.

Sasha and Judith look at the dresses, and they come to a unanimous decision.

"Red." They say in unison, and Michonne returns the black dress to her closet.

"Hair up or down. Better half up and down." Michonne questions after sliding in the dress.

"Judith, close your ear or I will have to pay the price of your corruption," Sasha says as she carefully presses her finger to Judith's ear to block het eardrum.

"Hair up, and before you argue. Just think about his finger grazing your back every time and that is the purpose of an open back. Now, when you're both going at it and he needs a solid grip, he will undo it. Think strategic. Think wisely," Sasha theorizes, and Michonne can't argue scientific knowledge.

"What did you hear, St Jude," Sasha asks when she frees Judith's ears.

Judith is quiet for a second, and then she imitates the sound of a vacuum. Sasha smiles with satisfaction. Michonne sighs and she rubs Judith's ear to unblock her eardrum.

"Better?" Michonne asks Judith, and she nods as an answer.

Michonne pulls her hair in the tight bun, and it frees her elegant neck. She starts to apply her make up, and Judith interrupts her every minute to have the same colour of eyeshadow apply to her eyes. In the end, Judith finishes with a nude Smokey eye and burgundy lips. Michonne has the same look but her lip is vermilion.

"Old man Grimes might have in an inhalator. You're breathtaking," Sasha says with a proud smile.

There is a knock at the door, and Michonne might need to invest in the anti-arrhythmics drug. Her heart endlessly gallops at any thought of Rick. Michonne looks at her outfit, and she no longer thinks that it is appropriate.

"Judith, go open the door to your dad and tell him about all the words, which you learn this morning," Michonne says, and it should give her an hour to rethink her outfit.

"St Jude, tell your dad that Michonne will be ready in five minutes," Sasha counters Michonne's request.

Judith looks between Sasha and Michonne. She wisely decides to listen to the sister who doesn't look at the edge of a heart attack.

"I will tell dad that Michonne will be ready in five minutes," she announces as she walks out of the room.

"I can see your thong line," Sasha says as she looks at Michonne up and down.

"I'm naked under this dress. What are you talking about," Michonne looks in the mirror as she turns?

"Good, then you are working with perfection. You look good, and remember you will benefit to be carefree this time." Sasha encourages Michonne, and she slightly pushes her out of the room.

"St Jude, come we are going to pick an epic Rom com," Sasha says as she joins everyone in the living room, "Hi, Rick. You don't need my date special pep talk" she jokes, and Rick does the amateur mistake to glance at Michonne's ass.

"Thanks, Sasha." He chuckles, and he extends his hand for Michonne.

"Bye, daddy and Michonne," Judith excitedly waves them off, and she turns to face Sasha with a smile.

"You're a worker of miracles, St Jude."

* * *

Michonne doesn't know why she has that sudden timidity. A cocktail of everything can explain her newfound shyness. They have already been in their first date, but there won't be a hundred of people to act as a buffer. Well, it is Valentine night and they might be many people packed inside the restaurant that Rick chose.

However, Michonne remains stressed. She looks at Rick, and he looks good in his dark greyish blue ensemble. He isn't wearing a tie, and she assumes that this is equivalent of casual chic. The shirt matches his well-fitted suit, and she particularly likes the unbuttoned Mao collar. She wants to feel his five o'clock shadow under her fingertips, but she keeps her hand to herself while he holds the other hand.

"I haven't found an original way to say it. You might get bored of me saying it every five seconds, but you look gorgeous." Rick draws Michonne out of her thoughts, and he runs his knuckles along the spinal curvature of her back.

His fingers spread on the silky smooth skin of her back while he helps her into his support car. Michonne smiles as a response to his compliment, and she refrains from telling Rick that his voice and drawl do the trick. She could hear him say thang the entire day.

"Thank you and you look dapper." Michonne returns the compliment.

"I was going for pretty, but I must have outdone myself." Rick teases Michonne as he places his hand behind her sit to reverse his vintage black Corvette.

The jacket of his suit rest on the headrest of his seat, and he pushes the sleeves of his shirt. Michonne forgets about the conversation for a second, and she focuses on the contractions of his forearm's muscle as he manoeuvres the car. Is that dinner worth postponing the moment where he handles her body with the same precision? Michonne doesn't think so, but she doesn't say it.

"I'm never living down that admission. You're the prettiest man that I know and miraculously it takes nothing to your masculine edge." Michonne leans and she runs her finger along his sharp jaws.

The hem of her dress moves further up, and her smooth legs shine under the streetlights, which manages to cross the car's windows. Rick can help himself, and he places a hand on her thigh.

"I love teasing you," Rick agrees that he will hold her confession forever over her head, and he moves his hand higher on her thigh. "Your timidity is adorable when it shows up." His voice is slightly above a mere whisper, and his fingers tease the hem of her dress, "Although, your confidence is your most attractive trait." Rick's hand halts when his fingers curve around the inner side of her thigh.

"So where are we going?" Michonne asks to distract herself from her growing need of Rick, and his fingers dancing on her thigh feels too good to have mere words express it accurately.

"A restaurant," Rick answers with nonchalance.

"Very funny. I wouldn't have guessed that one." Michonne sarcastically says, and Rick chuckles.

"Clown is my second job as you can guess," Rick says, and Michonne can't keep her façade of indignation.

She laughs, and the weight on her shoulder disappears. Michonne has started to know Rick, and she has done the hardest part this two last months. This date is a formality.

"Thank you," Michonne knowingly says.

"I was this close to park the car and massage your shoulder to help you relax." Rick teases, and Michonne's laugh fills his car.

"How was your day?" Michonne finally regains her natural ease around Rick.

"Uneventful, I just had to find a teacher for Judith," Rick answers as he takes a turn toward an area, which is unfamiliar to Michonne.

"What happened to Miss Maggie and her school," Michonne asks slightly confused.

"I can't move her school to LA for two weeks, and the plan is not to go back to Atlanta until we can bring you back home." He answers and Michonne blinks to prevent an emotional torrent. "I mean it when I said that I miss you, and Judith, she loves you. I know that it is going fast and we can't slow it down at any moment that you want. You chose the pace," Rick finishes explaining his decision.

"Did I say how hard these two months were? I think I'm way ahead of you when it comes to pacing. I tried to ask you five times to come and visit, and then I will chicken out," Michonne confesses.

"Glad to know that my girlfriend is pleased," Rick

"Was that you asking?" Michonne asks, and she has been waiting about it since last night.

"Nope, that was me acknowledging your claim on me." He smirks with his usual mischievousness.

"I was trying to keep Judith happy, and this is my reward." Michonne sighs.

"Oh, so you want a reward?" Rick's voice drops in octaves, and his fingers explore her inner thigh.

They flirt with her aching clitoris, but he only teases. She can feel the ghost of the touch, which she wants so much to receive.

"Maybe after I can see how deserving you're of one." Rick pulls his hand away from her legs.

"I just help inflate your ego." Michonne sighs and Rick laughs.

Rick parks the car in front of a shallow road, and Michonne regrets her choice of shoes. She looks at the small hills, and she wonders what led Rick to think that climb other things than him was a great idea.

"Where are we?" Michonne asks as Rick helps her down the car.

"A vineyard on the outskirts of LA, and it is also a small French restaurant with a gorgeous view the higher you get," Rick says and he points at a glass boss on the top of the highest hills.

Michonne looks around and the place is gorgeous. Yellow light dance on the green leaves of the vine, and the different part of the restaurant suspended on the top of hills with different height is impressive. Everything is perfect, but her heels might lead her to break a leg.

"There is a car to pick us up or I will carry you up if you prefer." Rick seems to read her mind.

"Save your stamina for when it matters," Michonne rises on her toes, and she kisses Rick until the car come to pick them up.

* * *

The path to their reserved glass box is beautiful. Vine lines the roads, and they only have to extend their hands to grab a grape. Rick takes one grape, and he offers it to Michonne with the solemnity that he would use to offer a gorgeous emerald.

Michonne laughs at his antics, and she places the grape in her clutch. She wants a souvenir of their date. They make it up the last hills and the air his slightly cold. Rick puts his jacket on Michonne's shoulder, and his scent engulfs her.

They enter the glass box, and the interior is magnificent. There are vine growing along the glass wall, and the sky seems impossibly close. Michonne reaches for the glass roof, and the stars reflect on her gorgeous skin. She looks at Rick, and she looks gorgeous standing under the illuminated sky. He can look at nothing else.

"If I say that it is going to be a matter of trial and error, I hope it doesn't scare you. As much as I want it, do be perfect, it isn't going to be always perfect. However, I want that flawed perfection with you," Rick starts to speak, and Michonne loses her fascination with the stars.

He looks prettier than any dead planet could ever. The light caresses his curls and the side of his face. Michonne wants to touch Rick, and so she does. She wraps an arm around his neck, and her other hand draws his features the same ways the shadow highlighting his sharp light does. She pecks his lips, and she slowly caresses his cheek.

"Yes," she whispers with excitement.

"I want more night when I get to hear you recite your lines. I want much more night when you stand under the star and make them look dull because you're gorgeous. I want to cut time from my work to spend time with you or I want the night when you ask me the most intelligent question about the software in some security device." Rick frames Michonne's face, and he steals her air with a deep kiss.

As his tongue explores her mouth, it feels as if liquid wildfire consumes her body. He pours all of his passion in a kiss, and she voluntarily drowns under the floods of his passion.

"Yes…yes…yes" Michonne whispers like a mantra between their kisses, and she doesn't care how he frames the question. Rick Grimes is her boyfriend. He will probably be more as time passes.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want to be the boyfriend to my girlfriend. I want to be your non-casual boyfriend. So Michonne William can I be your boyfriend and the madness to your mind?" Rick finishes, and the answer matters little because he has known it for two months.

"For the umpteenth time, yes." She pulls Rick into another passionate kiss.

The dinner is uneventful, and the view can't keep their mind away from their growing desire. Michonne eventually ends up straddling Rick when the second glass of wine doesn't quench her thirst.

"I want my reward," Michonne says as she takes Rick's hands and guides it between her legs.

"I have no choice than to be a dutiful boyfriend," Rick teases and he pulls on Michonne lower lip to punctuate his statement.

"Good boy." She rises, and she gives him her hand to take.

* * *

It is a miracle that they make it into Rick's apartment in one piece. Between Michonne sucking and kissing his neck while his hand rubs her clitoris until orgasm, Rick wonders how he didn't crush his Corvette. Now, he can hardly find his key. Michonne's small body pressed against his body is a great distraction. Her ass sandwiches his hard dick.

"Babe, hurry," Michonne says as she grinds against his erected manhood.

"How does this shit works again?" Rick says completely unable to make an object that he conceptualized work, and this is the power that Michonne has on him.

When she is in his arms, he can focus on nothing else. He kisses her neck, and he runs his tongue along her neck. He has the entire floor to himself, and he is close to starting to have sex on the porch of his apartment.

"Vocal reconnaissance and iris. Say your password, and place your eyes here." Michonne regurgitates what he told her about this model.

Rick grabs her waist and he turns her so she can face him. He kisses her with the voraciousness of a man starved of affection. It is possessive and a claim of her. He breaks the kiss to do what Michonne says, and the door opens to let them in.

The lights go on, and Michonne dresses hit the floor. Red pools at her feet and she looks like a goddess coming out of sea foam tainted by the blood of her worshipper. Rick is ready to add himself on the list of those fallen for her glory.

"I want you so bad. " He whispers with a voice distorted by desire.

Rick feels envious of the light kissing her body, and he abandons the button of his shirt. He wraps his hand on her waist, and his fingers spread to grab her ass. Every touch screams that she is his. He lifts her up, and she wraps her leg around him.

Michonne languidly kisses his sharp jaw, and her teeth are playful on his skin. She nibbles and licks her mark on his neck. She pulls on his collar, and she kisses the crook of Rick's neck until he moans her name. The walls echo back the glorious cry of pleasure that she coerce from Rick's lips. She kisses him with fervour, and her tongue invades and inflames every inch of him.

Rick carefully places Michonne on his California king bed. She looks gorgeous amidst the navy blue silk. He undoes the first button of his shirt.

"Push another finger." Rick orders as he watches Michonne pleasure herself while she waits for his clothes to come off.

He undoes the remaining buttons of his shirt as he rewards when she obeys him.

"Oh." She cries in pleasure when she starts to move her finger in and out.

His shirt is falling from his shoulder, and a part of her succulent breast catches Rick's eyes. Her hand between her thighs coerces another moan from her. Rick tugs on his pants and boxer brief. He is as naked as Michonne is.

Michonne looks at his dick, and she wonders where it will fit. Rick is much bigger than she anticipated, but it turns her on to think about riding him. Her finger sinks deeper into her cores.

Her lower lip tucked between her teeth and her head slightly thrown back, she allows another moan to fall from her lips. Michonne softs moans drive Rick mad, and he crawls above her. He pulls her hand from her wet slits before she can reach an orgasm, and he licks her essence from her finger.

He kisses her toned abdomen, and his tongue draws the crevice of her chiselled abdominal muscle. His kisses burn her skin and send all her sensory snaps in overload. Rick continues to move his hands along the curves of Michonne's body until his thumb grazes her bare vagina.

When his thumb starts to rub her clitoris. She moans his name, and she grabs Rick's nape when his tongue collects the juice on her labia. He sucks on her clitoris, and he pushes his thick finger in her core. He gently rolls his tongue on her lower lips. Rick samples a taste of Michonne's on the tip of his tongue, and he flirts with her senses. She can't resist his tongue thrusting in her chore aching for more of him. She comes on his tongue with a shattering orgasm.

Rick doesn't let her recover, and His fingers flirt with her skin. She tastes like rich cognac and burned toffee, sweet to the point of overdose. He moans in her ears as her feminine juice coats his manhood. He pushes a finger and another in Michonne's quivering pussy, and she returns to the edge of another orgasm.

Michonne's pussy grazes his erected dick every time she rides his fingers. The curses leave Michonne's plump lips between kisses, and her lungs burn with the needs of air. Michonne wants more of Rick as she comes on his fingers.

Rick adorns Michonne's stomach with open mouth kisses, and his tongue flirts with her skin. His tongue teases her nipple, and his mouth covers the aching flesh. He sucks until Michonne moans fill every corner of the room. He rests his forehead on hers, and his nose grazes hers.

He takes his air from her lips, and he keeps her into a bubble where she loses herself to him. In the softness of the shade of blue of his eyes, Michonne sees something burgeoning and it is the reflection of her growing love for him. She lets go of her remaining caution. She abandons her defences to allow Rick in her life.

"I want you…," she pleads with him for more, and everything else that he wants to offer.

Rick's teeth sink in Michonne's bottom lip. He pulls on the bruising flesh, and his tongue runs along it to erase the harm of his teeth. His tongue coerces her tongue into an inflamed tango. It is fiery, and it consumes the air in their lungs. It is beyond anything carnal. Rick pushes the tip of his dick into her pussy.

"Fuck, you feel so good," Rick moans when Michonne's vagina slowly stretches around his length.

She slowly takes inches of his dick, and her waist rhythmically moves. Michonne's nails sink into Rick's shoulders. Her quiet moans fill the room and overlap with the sounds of Rick's guttural moans.

Rick places one of Michonne's leg on his shoulder. He thrust into her with lazy stoke to get her accustomed to his size, and she can't recover from her orgasm.

"Rick…" She cries when he hits her G-spot, and Michonne is increasingly wet her juice coat his skin and rolls from her thighs to his. "Oh…yes babe, deeper." She sobs as his teeth graze her neck and his dick reach deeper into her contracting walls.

Rick's strokes are more precise and hard. Michonne comes again while Rick continues to explore her body. He sucks, licks, and whispers words, which drive Michonne mad. He never breaks eyes contact as he slowly claims every inch of her body. His hands leave their print beyond her body.

Rick continues to thrust until Michonne's waist rolls coerce an orgasm out of him. He carefully lies on top of Michonne, and he doesn't do the effort to pull out. Rick's dick still fills Michonne's wall. The sounds of their heavy breaths disturb the silence. She moves his sweaty curl away from his face.

"We didn't use a condom," Rick says half an hour after when Michonne starts to fall asleep in his arm.

"Micro pills," Michonne answers, and she turns to kiss him.

* * *

**Two months later**

"Daddy, I have to tell you something." Judith says with a conniving smile, "It is a secret." She rushes in Rick's office.

"What is it?" Rick asks, and he knows the upcoming Easter holiday and the egg hunt excites Judith.

"The Easter bunny hid an egg into Michonne's stomach," Judith says with a smile.

"Michonne told you that?" Rick has a delayed reaction, and he doesn't want to come to the wrong conclusion.

"She told Sasha about her fetus wasn't vi…able yet, and my ears weren't closed." Judith confesses with slight shame, "I ask Miss Maggie what is a fetus. It comes from an egg. Michonne has an egg in her stomach. How was I going to find it there? Do you think the Easter bunny cheats?" Judith asks with silent indignation.

"Michonne's egg is special," Rick says for lack of better words.

"Do you think she will share her egg with me?" Judith eagerly inquires.

"Well, I hope"


End file.
